Wednesday, July 30, 2008

#23 Evaluation....... THE END!!!!!!!!

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

I discovered I can do so much by myself and love the self paced tech class. I have taken the 2 hour classes we have at the support center but sometime left feeling like I only understood the introductions by the time it was over. This class was wonderful for me since I could read, study, play, try and try again until I "got it".

The Craft Videos were amazing....best ever! I even got my husband in here to watch and learn.

The wiki's were good and I plan to start one in Sunday School in a couple of days for a project. I just hope everyone doesn't flip out when I explain how to do it!!

Teacher Tube is awesome. I really had a problem with video buffering slowly last year in class so it made lessons draggy. I hope this year is better.


How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I will always be a life long learner. I can never die since my list of books stretch out to Mars that I have to read ASAP. Tech learning is now included in that learning. I will always need assistance in WHERE to go for that learning and I will look to my SBISD head librarian!

Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I have always used yahoo mail and since I started this class I am a gmail convert. I use google mail, calendar, docs, blog and have my grown children have their calendar so we can share. I really love it.

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?

My first thought was to tell you to WARN people it would NOT take 18 hours to finish this class but you might not have anyone sign up....... :) I cannot imagine how many hours I spent on this "18 hour" class. I am not complaining since I knew it in the beginnning but there are many more than the 18 to get through this unless you have done most of the exercises before.

Honestly, I can't think of anything to improve the program. I didn't have trouble with anything except lesson 21 and I think it was me and not the format.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?

YES!

How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE, so we could use your words to promote 23 Things learning activities?

Each lesson was a window of opportunity for me to explore cyber-learning activities provided to me by our library to continue my lifelong learning and to upgrade my classroom teaching bringing Web 2.o to my young students.

I am very pleased but a little sad to be finished with the lessons! I have really enjoyed them! Thank you so much!

#22 Ning

I had never heard of Ning. One can get lost in Ningland and never be found. My eyes are crossed from reading so long.

The teacher sites seem limited at this point but I am sure it will grow as word spreads. I like the idea that one "type" of teacher can come together to grow and learn. As other posts have stated, I think it really needs to be a professional site and not one to air our dirty laundry since the entire world reads it.

I didn't sign up for an account at Ning since I think I have enough on my plate now. It may be a place I go later and revisit.

Thanks for introducing this to me.

#21 Audio Podcast

http//www.switchpod.com/users/redswing/feed.xml

#21 Podcasts

http://www.switchpod.com/users/redswing/feed.xml

You will have to cut and paste until I get this figured out. Hours and hours and I can't get the link hot.

#20 You Tube and Teacher Tube

I have used You Tube for about a year and a half for personal things and have loved it. I plan to use Teacher Tube more this school year. I created an account and will bookmark videos that I can use in my classroom.

The only complaint I have using the embedded videos and our united streaming is that the "buffering" time is very annoying and sometime we lose the lesson totally. Does anyone know any tricks to help this?

These are some videos I looked at today:

You Tube:




Teacher Tube:




Our job will be to find the best videos for our lessons and make good videos to use in our classrooms!

# 19 Web 2.0 Awards

I am thrilled to get the link to the award page. Now I can search, share and play with these when time permits.

I see many we have learned about and some I have been using for quite some time like Craigslist, Google Maps, Yahoo Answers, and You Tube.

In a library lesson, this is a great start for introduction for specific topics in each application. A child with a laptop could do their own self-exploring just on this link and learn so much.

In the classroom, this would be a great site since you have the "cream" sites of each category.

#18 Online Productivity Tools

Microsoft Office has us believing they are the only ones around that are worth using so it is good to explore other ways to create and use documents.

I was hesitant to download the open office. I read all the site and took in the info but did not care to put it on my computer.

I feel that Google Docs are more user-friendly since I already use gmail, have a blog here and use other features of google. The tour was also user friendly and informative.

The "sharing" part of documents has really been a revolution.

Monday, July 28, 2008

# 17 Rollyo

My Rollyo...

http://rollyo.com/index.html

#16 Wikis

Wikis are amazing. Since I had only heard the term, it took me a few minutes to understand how they totally replace "group" email and the back and forth of trying to set something up or working on a project.

I can see such potential using Wiki's in the upper grades.

Personally, I can see using Wiki's more out of school than in since I teach very young children. I might have to do some very creative thinking to get the kids involved on wikis at school but with teacher help they could be introduced to adding pictures, typing, seeing other's work, knowing they were working on a group project.

I have been on many committees, worked on pot-luck suppers with emails going around so we wouldn't all bring the same thing, coordinating a weekends with several couples on a trip.... I can see lots of possibilities with Wiki's in my personal life. It will make things much easier.

I also can see that it will take some time to educate my friends on what Wiki's are and how to use them before they will try them!

Friday, July 25, 2008

#15 Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and the Future of the Library

After reading the blogs and articles suggested, I am beginning to comprehend the vastness of the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 concept and that it will be ever changing as long as people and technology change.

The availability of information and how to share is a big responsibility of the librarian and teacher.

I am concerned about the low income students that I teach. Home computer are few and far between with our kids and it is hard to keep up with all the new technology without practicing.

The "2 Cents Worth" articles were really good and all the videos have been very helpful and eye-opening like the one in this lesson. What was the comparison? A college kid writes 500 emails to 40 pages of college work?

#14 Claiming Blog......trying again

Technorati Profile

#14 Claiming the blog

http://theredswing.blogspot.com/

#14 Technorati and How Tags Work

GRRR.............

Second time I have posted this blog. I hit publish and I got a message a few minutes ago that said "Sorry eblogger is not available at this time". I lost my blog. Now I have learned to hit save now and do a quick save in Word before I hit publish.

Tagging has gone from being a child's game at recess to a daily internet necessity when dealing with blogs, photography saves, media sites, news sites, and favorites. It started as a personal help but grew to the social web with Technorati.

The more you search on Technorati the more you will find. My problem will be staying focused to what I need to find for the classroom and not chasing rabbits on things I suddenly find interesting to read.

Now to conquer the "claiming" of my blog!

#13 Del.icio.us/Tagging

I had seen the "del.icio.us" word around but had not explored it for myself. I am glad I had this guide. I was overwhelmed at first but the more I played with it the more comfortable I became. I can see a huge advantage since I do miss my favorites when I am at home or at school on different computers. It will take me a LONG TIME to get them organized but will be worth it. I can then take the time to delete the ones that I have not used.

I will make sure my 2 girls in college know about this. They probably do since this old dog is learning new tricks but it is fun to teach THEM something new.

The Internet and all the sharing tricks have certainly caused a social explosion readily available for teachers if just used to the max. I hope I can tap into it my last few years of teaching.

I am excited about this!

#12 Creating Community with Commenting

Two points I feel are important: 1) Don't feel obligated to comment on everything you read. We don't have time in life to do so. 2) Keep it constuctive, use your manners and be succinct. Use humor when possible!

I read through many of our Library blogs and commented on 5-6. I see many are finished and some have less than I do done!

I have been commenting on blogs for about a year now through Myspace. I will take into consideration the articles read today and will apply the thoughts. I do notice the ones that have the most comments ask questions in the title and/or at the end of the blog and comment back to their readers to create the community.

#11 LibraryThing

I could have stopped all my lessons and worked on this project the rest of my life!! The books at home and school would take me at least a month to enter on the site!

I love the LibraryThing. I have been waiting for something like this! Since I have been blogging in myspace over a year ago, it gives a place to write what book you are reading and that is some record. I wish through the years I had actually written them all down. When I moved a few years ago, I gave away my book friends and kept the most precious.

It is always a good thing to get a slant on a book before or after you have dived into it so the reviews will be great to see.

I immediately joined the Children's Literacy group and the Bloggers group.

I can see myself paying the "forever" dues someday to keep this site going.

#10 Online Image Generator

This was FUN but frustrating for me since Comcast was having some bleeps in the DSL.

I did not like Comics Sign Generator. I spent too much time trying to make myself a Queen of England and it did not work.

My favorite is the http://www.happyfacegenerator.com I have a friend that spices up her blog with those and it makes all the difference in the world. I am not a big fan of "happy faces" but hers are animated and she does not overuse them so it does well in the light hearted blog.

I am wondering how much will be blocked when we get back to school?

I know the kids will love doing this to spice up any language arts reading/writing projects. I can hear some stories being told with the image generators now! That will be fun coming from a 6 year old!

Thing #9 Researching RSS Feeds/Blogs

Google Blog Search was the easiest along with Blogline. My problem is that I get caught up in looking at all this and have spent 3 hours just searching and reading. I will need to come back to this when I have more time to sort out for my own personal use. Now I have the places to look so that gives me the power to plan.

I could not get into Atomic Learning.

I added several more blogs to my reader and will continue to search for some that are related to my area of teaching.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Thing #8 RSS Feeds

I like the RSS feed very much. I am a "surfer" by nature and this will slash the time I have been going to sites reading each day. I noticed some of my favorite reading sites do not have RSS feeds but still stick with the daily email article links. I had to learn that you could not automatically make them an RSS feed. A URL does not an RSS make.

I can use this for news, health info, pleasure reading, blog reading, weather info, you name it. I can use it for school news, views, district updates, curriculum news, anything in the blogs that will keep me informed. I will continue to add RSS feeds and weed out the ones that are not usable to me in the future.

Library techs/teachers can teach the students how to set up their own readers at an early age and it can follow them as they change subjects, needs in academics and how to appreciate world news through RSS feeds. The kids of today will feel a newspaper is old news by the time it gets to the doorstep.

I added more to my Google Reader than I could ever go through in a days time but at least it is there ready for me to decide what I want to read. I don't have to hunt. Now, when I have more time, I will work on folders and getting the feeds organized.

Good lesson!